A Clear Out

[chokkie]

Hi ABers out there. We're doing a bit of a clear out of our home filing cabinet - documentation, banking stuff and what-have-you. I can't make my mind up about chucking out all our old payslips, have got them dating back well over 30 years ..... should I keep them, just in case? I have just retired from my full time employment, so won't be getting any more to stash away, but hubby's out there in the world of work! Any thoughts?

[bookbinder]

Have you ever had good cause to look at any of those old payslips in all those 30 years? If not, then you won't have any reason to do that in the future. Bin them!

[murraymints]

SHRED !

[Islay]

No keep the last 6 years of financial and shred burn the rest

[Quoi]

take pictures of any you need then shred - less clutter & its always good to know you can still see them if the thought crosses your mind in the future.

[bhg481]

Have you any children? When my parents died it was fascinating going through their old documents. If you're not going to keep them take murraymint's advice and shred them.

[Hopkirk]

If you have P60 end of year statements for recent years you don't need any, except for nostalgia.

[davegosling]

I faced a similar dilemma when I retired so I bought a reasonably cheap, but decent enough, scanner and set about it!

It took me a good couple of months, off and on, but well worth it.

[diddlydo]

Bin, burn or shred. Keeping is not an option!

[davegosling]

Binning is not an option either! Shredding and recycling is the way to go.

[bhg481]

Unfortunately our council (West Berkshire) won't accept shredded paper for recycling.

[Hopkirk]

There will be a paper recycling skip at the local recycling centre, BHG.

[woofgang]

another vote for binning. Six years is all you need for tax purposes. If you have to do a tax return, start doing then online.

[bhg481]

Hopkirk - not for shredded paper; I emailed them to check because we like to recycle as much as possible. All other paper, cardboard, even flattened boxes, collected at the kerb. We now tear off our name and address to shred and recycle the rest.

[ummmm]

No shredded paper here either and what if you don't have transport?

I've just bought a garden incinerator to burn our paperwork.

Most things are on computers so getting copies is not usually difficult.

[woofgang]

I think the issue with shredded paper is that it can contain stuff like staples, bits of plastic, even shredded credit cards and cd's so they have to refuse it all.

[ummmm]

And with recycling boxes it ends up all over the street on a breezy day.

[chokkie]

thanks so much folks, appreciate your suggestions. I think I'm going to shred them .... Cheers, Chox.

[horseshoes]

Perhaps you know somebody who has, or whose children have small animals, hamsters etc who might like it for bedding.

[diddlydo]

We just burn all our sensitive stuff on our open fire but I realise that some people don't have that luxury.

[woofgang]

horseshoes, you have to be careful doing that. Some inks and paper treatments, while not poisonous to humans, can be very bad indeed for small furries.